System and method for a single surface palmrest with localized haptics for touchpad and tactile feedback

Abstract

A haptic touchpad may include a seamless layer of glass; a touchpad assembly, including: a capacitive touch printed circuit board (PCB) operatively coupled to a bottom side of the seamless layer of glass via a first adhesive; a contact foil operatively coupled to the bottom surface of the capacitive touch PCB via a second adhesive; a piezoelectric element array operatively coupled to a bottom side of the contact foil to receive an applied mechanical stress; and a controller of the information handling system operatively coupled to the piezoelectric element array to: receive electric actuation signals from the piezoelectric element array placed under the mechanical stress via the contact foil; and send an electrical response signal to the piezoelectric element array to cause the piezoelectric element array to generate haptic feedback; and a unibody C-cover support frame to support the touchpad assembly and the seamless layer of glass.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A haptic touchpad of an information handling system, comprising:
 a seamless layer of glass forming a palm rest surface and a touchpad surface; 
 a touchpad assembly, including:
 a capacitive touch printed circuit board (PCB) operatively coupled to a bottom side of the seamless layer of glass via a first adhesive to detect capacitive changes due to a user's touch of the seamless layer of glass over the touchpad assembly; 
 a contact foil operatively coupled to the bottom surface of the capacitive touch PCB via a second adhesive; 
 a piezoelectric element array operatively coupled to a bottom side of the contact foil to receive an applied mechanical stress at a location along the planar dimensions of the capacitive touch PCB and generate electric actuation signals, wherein each piezoelectric element is operatively coupled to a plurality of metal traces in the contact foil via a center electrical contact point and an edge electrical contact point; 
 
 a controller of the information handling system operatively coupled to the piezoelectric element array to:
 receive the electric actuation signals from at least one center electrical contact point and at least one edge electrical contact point it the piezoelectric element array placed under the mechanical stress via the contact foil; and 
 send an electrical response signal to the at least one center electrical contact point and the at least one edge electrical contact point in the piezoelectric element array to cause the piezoelectric element array to generate haptic feedback; and 
 
 a unibody C-cover support frame to support the touchpad assembly and the seamless layer of glass. 
 
     
     
       2. The haptic touchpad of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a third adhesive applied to the bottom side of the seamless layer of glass to secure the seamless layer of glass to the unibody C-cover, the third adhesive creating a window for the touchpad assembly to be secured to the seamless layer of glass via the first adhesive. 
 
     
     
       3. The haptic touchpad of  claim 2 , wherein a thickness of the layer of third adhesive is thicker than the thickness of the layer of first adhesive to allow for the seamless layer of glass at the touchpad assembly to be deflected into the touchpad assembly a distance. 
     
     
       4. The haptic touchpad of  claim 2  further comprising:
 a sizing offset between the planar dimensions of the touchpad assembly and the planar dimensions of the window such that the planar dimensions of the touchpad assembly are smaller than the planar dimensions of the window to allow for the seamless layer of glass at the touchpad assembly to be deflected into the touchpad assembly a distance. 
 
     
     
       5. The haptic touchpad of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 the piezoelectric element array including a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged on a flexible printed circuit wherein the plurality of piezoelectric elements provide localized haptic feedback based on a location where the localized piezoelectric elements detect a deflection of the seamless layer of glass. 
 
     
     
       6. The haptic touchpad of  claim 1 , wherein the seamless layer of glass is deflected a distance of less than 0.1 mm against the capacitive touch PCB and piezoelectric element array. 
     
     
       7. The haptic touchpad of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a tactile step formed into the seamless layer of glass to define the touchpad surface over the touchpad assembly as lower than the palm rest surface to indicate the dimensions of the touchpad surface. 
 
     
     
       8. The haptic touchpad of  claim 1  further comprising:
 an etched boundary etched into the seamless layer of glass to define the planar dimensions of the touchpad surface over the touchpad assembly. 
 
     
     
       9. A touchpad input device for information handling system, comprising:
 a top seamless layer forming a palm rest surface and a touchpad surface; 
 a touchpad assembly, including:
 a capacitive touch printed circuit board (PCB) operatively coupled to a bottom side of the top seamless layer via a first adhesive to detect capacitive changes due to a user's touch of the seamless layer of glass over the touchpad assembly; 
 a contact foil operatively coupled to the bottom surface of the capacitive touch PCB via a second adhesive; 
 a piezoelectric element array operatively coupled to a bottom side of the contact foil to receive an applied mechanical stress at a piezoelectric element of the piezoelectric element array and generate an electric actuation signal, wherein each piezoelectric element is operatively coupled to a plurality of metal traces in the contact foil via a center electrical contact point and an edge electrical contact point; 
 
 a controller of the information handling system operatively coupled to the piezoelectric element array to:
 receive the electric actuation signal from a first center electrical contact point and a first edge electrical contact point of the piezoelectric element placed under the mechanical stress via the contact foil; and 
 send an electrical response signal to the first center electrical contact point and the first edge electrical contact point of the piezoelectric element placed under the mechanical stress, via the contact foil, to cause the piezoelectric element to generate haptic feedback; and 
 
 a unibody C-cover support frame to support the touchpad assembly and the top seamless layer. 
 
     
     
       10. The touchpad input device of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a third adhesive operatively coupled to the bottom side of the top seamless layer of glass to secure the seamless layer of glass to the unibody C-cover, the third adhesive creating a window for the touchpad assembly to be secured to the seamless layer of glass via the first adhesive. 
 
     
     
       11. The touchpad input device of  claim 10 , wherein a thickness of the layer of third adhesive is thicker than the thickness of the layer of first adhesive to allow for the seamless layer of glass at the touchpad assembly to be deflected into the window for the touchpad assembly. 
     
     
       12. The touchpad input device of  claim 9 , wherein a second adhesive is applied a dot layer above the piezoelectric element to focus applied mechanical stress to the top seamless layer to the piezoelectric element to generate the electric actuation signal. 
     
     
       13. The touchpad input device of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 the piezoelectric element array including a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged on a flexible printed circuit wherein the plurality of piezoelectric elements provide localized haptic feedback at a haptic feedback zone based on a location where the piezoelectric element detected a deflection of the seamless layer of glass. 
 
     
     
       14. The touchpad input device of  claim 9 , wherein the top seamless layer is approximately 0.5 mm or less in thickness and is deflected a distance of less than 0.1 mm against the capacitive touch PCB and piezoelectric element array. 
     
     
       15. The touchpad input device of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 an etched boundary etched into the top seamless layer to define the planar dimensions of touchpad surface over the touchpad assembly. 
 
     
     
       16. The touchpad input device of  claim 9 , wherein the top seamless layer is made of an ultraviolet light-cured, metal-oxide nanocoated composite material. 
     
     
       17. A method of manufacturing an information handling system with a haptic touchpad assembly, comprising:
 forming a seamless layer of glass to create a unitary touchpad top surface and a palmrest top surface for installation within a C-cover of the information handling system, 
 operatively coupling a capacitive touch printed circuit board (PCB) to a bottom side of the seamless layer of glass under the touchpad top surface portion of the seamless layer of glass via a first adhesive to detect capacitive changes due to a user's touch of the seamless layer of glass over the touchpad assembly; 
 operatively coupling a contact foil to the bottom surface of the capacitive touch PCB via a second adhesive; 
 operatively coupling a piezoelectric element array to a bottom side of the contact foil to receive an applied mechanical stress at a location along the planar dimensions of the capacitive touch PCB and generate electric actuation signals by operatively coupling each piezoelectric element in the piezoelectric element array to a plurality of metal traces in the contact foil via a center electrical contact point and an edge electrical contact point; 
 placing the seamless layer of glass, capacitive touch PCB, contact foil, and piezoelectric element array of the haptic touchpad assembly within a monolithic C-cover support frame of the information handling system, wherein the seamless layer of glass forms a palm rest surface and a touchpad surface across a C-cover, wherein the monolithic C-cover support frame includes a first portion to adhere the seamless layer of glass thereon and a second portion to fit the capacitive touch PCB, contact foil, and piezoelectric element array of the haptic touchpad assembly therein; 
 operatively coupling the contact foil and each piezoelectric element of the piezoelectric element array to a haptic touchpad controller and coupling the haptic touchpad controller within the C-cover; 
 placing a keyboard within the monolithic C-cover support frame; 
 coupling a D-cover to the monolithic C-cover support frame to form a base chassis of the information handling system including a processor, a memory, and a power system; and 
 coupling the base chassis to a display chassis via a hinge. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17  further comprising:
 placing a third adhesive to the bottom side of the seamless layer of glass to secure the seamless layer of glass to the monolithic C-cover support, the third adhesive creating a window for deflection of the seamless layer of glass into the haptic touchpad assembly upon applied mechanical stress to the top of the seamless layer of glass at the touchpad surface. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 17  further comprising:
 forming a tactile step into the seamless layer of glass to define the dimension of the touchpad surface over the touchpad assembly as lower than the palm rest surface on the seamless layer of glass. 
 
     
     
       20. The input device of  claim 17  further comprising:
 the piezoelectric element array including a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged on a flexible printed circuit wherein the plurality of piezoelectric elements provide localized haptic feedback based on a location where the localized piezoelectric elements detect a deflection of the seamless layer of glass.